Elegant SciPy

Preface

Unlike the stereotypical wedding dress, it was—to use a technical term—elegant, like a computer algorithm that achieves an impressive outcome with just a few lines of code.

Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

Welcome to Elegant SciPy. We’re going to spend rather a lot of time focusing on the “SciPy” bit of the title, so let’s take a moment to reflect on the “Elegant” bit. There are plenty of manuals, tutorials, and documentation websites out there that describe the SciPy library. Elegant SciPy goes further. More than just teaching you how to write code that works, we will inspire you to write code that rocks!

In The Rosie Effect (hilarious book; go read its prequel The Rosie Project when you’re done with Elegant SciPy), Graeme Simsion twists the conventions of the word “elegant” around. Most would use it to describe the visual simplicity, style, and grace of, say, the first iPhone. Instead Graeme Simsion’s hero, Don Tillman, uses a computer algorithm to define elegance. We hope that you will understand exactly what he means after reading this book; that you will read or write a piece of elegant code, and feel calmed in the glow of its beauty and grace. (Note: The authors may be prone to hyperbole.)

A good piece of code just feels right. When you look at it, its intent is clear, it is often concise (but not so concise as to be obscure), and it is efficient at executing the task at hand. For the authors, the joy of analyzing elegant code lies in the lessons hidden within, ...